Singaporeans and long-term residents will be able to receive Covid-19 vaccinations in their HDB town by end of March.
The government will be setting up a community vaccination centre in all of the 24 HDB towns here.
Each centre can deliver 2,000 vaccinations a day as the nation ramps up its Covid-19 vaccination drive.
This will ensure that when more vaccines arrive, they can be quickly distributed to the population, particularly the elderly, said Minister of Trade and Industry Chan Chun Sing yesterday (Jan 26) when he was on a visit to the community vaccination centre at Tanjong Pagar Community Club (CC).
The above-mentioned CC, along with Teck Ghee CC in Ang Mo Kio, is part of the first two such facilities that have been set up to cater to residents aged 70 and above, in the first phase of the nationwide vaccination drive.
This move will give residents easier access to a vaccination centre and also allow the capacity should the vaccines come in faster.
“Our aim is to build the vaccination capacity ahead of the arrival of the vaccines, so that the vaccination capacity (at the centres) will not (hit a) bottleneck,” said Minister Chan.
He added that as they do not want to waste any vaccines as supply is brought in based on appointments made at a particular venue on a certain day.
Each vaccine has a shelf life of five days when kept at a temperature between two to eight degree Celsius.
Vaccinations To Be Progressively Rolled Out To Seniors
On Monday, the Ministry of Health (MOH) sent out the first batch of about 10,000 letters to senior citizens in Tanjong Pagar and Ang Mo Kio, inviting them to make an appointment for their vaccinations.
Seniors living in the rest of Singapore will receive the letters from mid-February onwards.
According to Minister Chan, these community vaccination centres will have measures in place catering to the elderly.
There will be an express lane for less mobile elderly, or those who are wheelchair-bound. The size of the vaccination booths are also slightly bigger to accommodate wheelchairs.
Chairs with backs and armrests are also provided in the waiting areas.
He added that there will be a community booking centre set up at each community vaccination centre at the CCs, so that elderly can make their vaccination appointments in person should they not be able to make their appointments online.
Volunteers from the People’s Association will be mobilised to answer the elderly’s questions upfront, advise the seniors and check whether they are eligible to take the vaccine.
Featured Image Credit: People’s Association / Reuters
